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Anyone else put up Dickens Villages at Christmas?

So sitting here watching A Child's Christmas in Wales (and a glass of Amaretto is helping create the spirit! ) and are starting to think about decorating.
I have my DSO's parents' former round dining table, about 4 feet across as my base, and if I need to, an antique blanket chest as a lower village. I probably have about a dozen buildings...a church, bookstore, barn and John Deere tractor, train station, mansion with lighted greenhouse, etc.
Where I am looking for ideas is for accessories or setup tips...I've hoarded some rigid styrofoam packing that might make some of a base, and a bit as a riser.
I'd love to hear any tricks or tips for lighting, decor, setup, how to get the snow batten to look good! I have to be silly and admit that one of my cats went Catzilla on it and a couple of the people ended up decapitated - so I set the head on the pond and the body headfirst in a snowdrift. Hey, silliness is allowable, no?
ETA - Here is a pic of one of the Catzillas the others are in following pics http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=3&theater

We lucked into a store closing a couple of years ago and were able to pick up a lot of pieces for half off, so now I have a decent collection. I use my bakers rack, and I set up three shelves with them. I bought some of the little twinkly lights and hang them up along the back and sides, and lay some of them under the snow.

I LOVE decorating for the holidays. Always wanted to do the holiday village thing and tried a few times. And had kittehs play Godzilla through mine too. Ended up giving the few pieces I had left to a niece.

Also love the old fashioned train around the tree thing. Tried that twice. Both times had a dog/dogs kill the train as soon as it moves.

Our last kitteh was the feline Grinch...was determined to climb every tree, kill every ornament, knock the tree over, unwrpa every present, shred every garland and even stole the last can of Who Hash. Gotta admit she was hilarious though.

My mom has 2 villages...one is....erm...I think a Thomas Kincaide? (sp?) The other is a cute set called Snowden/Snowdon something like that. All in blues, silvers and whites with snowmen people.

You jump in the saddle,
Hold onto the bridle!
Jump in the line!
...Belefonte

I know my friends/husband will give me endless crap for this, but I really am tempted to start a collection. I love anything in miniature and just think they're so darn cute.

My mother has one... I mostly remember my father making "additions" to it whenever she wasn't looking: my brother's Army men posed as snipers on the rooftops and getting into position around the corners, his toy velociraptor eating the ice skaters, etc.

Thanks, MistyBlue....we adopted Tango (also nicknamed Fang ) from a local shelter here...I saw his pic in the paper, and something made me go see him. I get there, and every.single.cage has one or more cats in it. I, of course, start bawling and go find a phone. Call my DSO and ask him...how upset will you be if I bring more than one home? He says "I fully expected you to!". So then, the decision of how the fark do I pick? Well, Cloë picked me - beautiful, housebroken, neutered black female who had been there going on four months. She reached out and grabbed my arm...and voilà. She chose for me . If you look at the other pics in the album, you'll see a few more of "the kids"
Sarah, I think your family sounds like a blast! Go for it!
Dee

I do Breyer christmas horses on the mantle. I use white flannel for the snow covered with some white sparkly tulle I found somewhere. The backround is some branches covered with white crystals and a string of LED mini lights. I have 3 bottlebrush pine trees at each end

I wasn't always a Smurf
Penmerryl's Sophie RIDSH
"I ain't as good as I once was but I'm as good once as I ever was"
The ignore list is my friend. It takes 2 to argue.

I have the North Pole village. I have about 50 houses....and the accompanying figures, trees, accessories. That said, I rarely even put up more than a handful each year. I used to go all out, but the year I realized you needed to be an electrical engineer to safely put it all out it was like a switch went off in my brain and I was over it.

I still will look to see the new ones when they come out, but I haven't bought any in years.

Now that I have grandsons, though, I do make the effort in a small way. I am in a different house now, too, and there's not really a place to put them all. I usually put the few I display on top of my baby grand piano. I put books in varying heights, then cover them with the white batting. Then the houses, trees, fences, etc. People always comment on them, and I do enjoy them, but it's just so much work!

Since I've been a HUGE Dickens' fan since I first learned how to read, I started collecting the Dickens' Village pieces from the very first year they came out. Have quite a few, including some original retired pieces. Stopped buying them when the manufacturer - Department 56 - apparently had a greed-driven nervous breakdown & started introducing 6+ new pieces a year.

And since my dear husband loves & misses NYC, I gifted him with a set of the Department 56 "Christmas in NYC" pieces. Again, many of the pieces are now true (& pricey) collectibles.

Everything is stored in their original boxes in our basement. Haven't set them up in well over a dozen years. Simply don't have the room or the time right now. Maybe some day.

Oh how I detest them!!! I'm sorry, no offense to you guys that like them, but hauling all that crap up from the basement, unpacking, setting up, getting the cords straight - that was an all-day affair. And then you have to UNDO it! I was never so happy as when my mother told me she didn't want to set it up anymore...

My neighbor across the street has an entire 1500 sqft addition to his house dedicated to all the Christmas villages. It's amazing! He lately started collecting the Cathedrals. They used to have thousands of people a year during the holidays coming through their house, but now they only show it to a few people here and there because they caught people trying to steal stuff But the details he has done are remarkable.

I love them, there's a bakery just down the road that has an awesome collection. I'm not sure how they do the snow, but I think its some kind of hard (cardboard maybe?) base painted with white glittery stuff. It looks very realistic!